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Homegrown (1998 film)

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Homegrown
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStephen Gyllenhaal
Written byStephen Gyllenhaal
Nicholas Kazan
Produced byJason Clark
Starring
CinematographyGreg Gardiner
Edited byMichael Jablow
Music byTrevor Rabin
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • April 17, 1998 (1998-04-17)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$77,910[1]

Homegrown is a 1998 American dark comedy-drama thriller film directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal and starring Billy Bob Thornton, John Lithgow and Hank Azaria. The plot follows marijuana harvesters in Northern California who become drawn into a world of crime bosses and corrupt cops. The film was released on April 17, 1998.

Plot

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Small-time marijuana harvesters in Northern California Jack, Carter and Harlan witness their boss Malcolm shot dead by the pilot who flies him to visit his flourishing marijuana plantation. After getting over the initial shock, Jack organizes the crew. They break down their camp, grab enough crop to cover their losses and hightail it.

Carter and Harlan take the crop they've cut to Lucy's to dry it out, while Jack looks into finding a buyer. As they are unsure as to who is behind Malcolm's death, they try to keep the business running, negotiating their biggest sale while keeping the murder secret.

When someone calls Jack and Lucy doesn't recognize the voice and they all seem to be acting strangely, she asks what's going on. Jack makes up a story about Malcolm, giving her the impression that he's in trouble, has gone into hiding and needs to make quick money.

After the naive trio successfully sell the crop they brought, they then get greedy and try to take over the business themselves. Carter is skeptical they can get away with it, but returning to the marijuana plantation and seeing that noone else has touched the crop, they try to cover up Malcolm's demise.

As Carter and Harlan work with a crew on the plantation, harvesting the product, Jack has gone to Malcolm's. He listens to his answering machine messages, discovering there are several people looking for Malcolm.

When the young Harlan sleeps with Lucy, he tells her everything. She confronts Jack and Carter, insisting she get a cut. At a growers' social event, Jack speaks to a colleague Sierra who seems to know about Malcolm's demise. Then, people posing as cops come for a hiker Harlan was watching. There is a shootout, Harlan shoots him so they leave him in a hospital, claiming it was a shooting accident as they were moose hunting.

The ill-prepared trio find themselves in over their heads. Jack is warned that the police are raiding the plantation, so he manages to help Carter and Harlan narrowly escape. Then Gianni calls, insisting on a face-to-face with Malcolm. Jack goes, posing as him, and finds out the Mafia are expecting a shipment.

At Lucy's, she and the increasingly more and more nervous trio end up getting kidnapped by someone in a ski mask demanding Malcolm. When they tell him he's dead, he makes the four show him the body. After he gets photographic proof, he forces all of them into the grave. Unmasking himself, the trio recognize him as the murdering helicopter pilot. He makes them promise, at threat of death, to not sell the weed to the mafia.

The next morning, as the four are loading the product onto the van Malcolm's identical twin Richard shows up. He tries to pressure them to still sell to Gianni, however Jack isn't intimidated so they take the dope to sell to Danny.

As drops are meant to be done one-on-one, Jack drives the truck while the other three watch hidden from view. Danny tells him the growers all know about Malcolm's death, as they were responsible for it, so offers him a much lower price for not being transparent about it. Jack starts to walk away as a bargaining tactic, however Harlan's head pops up, causing Danny to bolt.

Before the four can drive off with the truck full of dope, the cops arrive. Later, they and a crowd watch through a link fence as the marijuana is burned, and everyone gets high.

Cast

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Reception

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On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Homegrown has an approval rating of 44% based on 18 reviews.[2] In a positive review, Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times praised the cast and the film's plot "that mingles murder mystery, rustic comedy, outlaw sociology, plant husbandry, lusty romance and layers of old-fashioned avarice, which is to say old-fashioned business".[3] Leonard Klady of Variety wrote the film "[opts] for a droll tone that puts the yarn of illegal growing and selling into the leagues of muted outlawism that characterized such vintage fare as 'Beat the Devil' and 'The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight'", adding that the film's ensemble cast, with the exception of Thornton and Lithgow, are "seemingly unsupported by direction or precision from the script."[4]

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack was released on June 11, 2002 on Will Records.

Track list:[5]

  1. "Smoke Two Joints" by Sublime [4:46] – (original version by The Toyes)
  2. "Book Of Rules" by The Heptones [3:51]
  3. "GBH" by Death In Vegas [5:13]
  4. "Pass The Dutchie" by Buck-O-Nine [2:59]
  5. "We Are Dumb" by Home Grown [1:55]
  6. "I Smell A Rat" by Sebadoh [1:36]
  7. "Stars" by Green Apple Quick Step [3:17]
  8. "Gone To Stay" by Elaine Summers [3:58]
  9. "Great Escape" by Chaser [4:44]
  10. "Sick And Beautiful" by Artificial Joy Club [4:24]
  11. "Electro Glide in Blue" by Apollo Four Forty [8:36]
  12. "Burn" by Lucky Me [4:10]
  13. "Hold on to Me" by Cowboy Junkies [3:21]

References

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  1. ^ "Homegrown (1998)". Box Office Mojo. 1998-04-19. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  2. ^ "Homegrown". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  3. ^ Van Gelder, Lawrence (May 8, 1998). "FILM REVIEW; Dead Boss With Drug Cargo: A Stooge's Stuff of Dreams". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  4. ^ Klady, Leonard (April 17, 1998). "Homegrown". Variety. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Homegrown (1998)". The Soundtrack Info Project.
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